The Amberley Gallery

A series of high resolution photographs showing the Amberley Collection in more detail. If you click on the photo this should (subject to the vagaries of Website software) bring up a caption giving a brief description.

This model of a 15th century workshop is based on the right hand panel of the triptych shown below.

This lovely model of a 17th century turner’s workshop includes a treddle operated lathe in addition to that powered by a large, presumably apprentice driven, flywheel and a shave horse.

The Barnes is capable of producing a good finish but it’s hard on the leg muscles if you’re not used to it.

Various horticultural cutting and trimming tools including (centre) a manual predecessor of the modern electric hedge trimmer.

Various coopers’ tools and a cask kindly donated by Wadsworth’s Brewery, Devizes. In the foreground is a lid from a Hancock’s cask.

Various paring and firmer chisels with two draw knives at the top. The large curved tool in the centre is a lock gouge for clearing the waste from a lock mortise.

Various decorators’ tools including, at centre, combs used with scumble and varnish to create decorative wood grain effects.

Donated by Mrs Burke, this beautifully fitted tool chest was made by her grandfather, George Batchelor Earll. Mr Earll worked at Chatham dockyard, probably as a ship fitter, which would have given him access to the sort of exotic timbers and veneers from which the interior of the chest was made.

A collection of mainly carving tools including gouges, wooden spokeshaves and mallets. We don’t pretend the Easter bunny (or is it a March hare?) is the most sophisticated of carvings but it shows what can be done with simple tools.

Mechanical and production engineering tools including sets of thread cutting taps and dies on the right. The five drawer cabinet at top centre was donated to Taths by an engineer who worked on WWII Spitfire fighter planes.

A collection of tools owned by the late W. L. (Bill) Goodman author of British Planemakers from 1700.

Animal harness for use in agriculture, scythe and various horticultural tools

This collection of coopers’ tools were used by Mr T. Harte, a cooper at Hancock’s brewery in Cardiff. When Mr Harte retired he continued to demonstrate their use at a Welsh museum. Sadly, when he died the museum was not interested in retaining them and so his family eventually donated them to Taths. We are very glad to have them.

The machine has no maker’s marks but is thought to date from the 1930s. It has coarse, medium and fine grinding wheels. Machines like this were bolted in the back of horse drawn trailers, or later, vans and used by itinerant knife and tool sharpeners who called door to door. A collection of painters’ brushes kindly donated by Harris brushes.

Piano tuners' tools

Plumbing tools, many of them for dressing sheet lead into elaborate shapes such as surface water drain hoppers.

Another turner’s workshop model, this time with a pole lathe.

This Preston spill plane is mounted in a hardwood cradle for easier operation and is used for making spills for lighting fires and candles. The skewed blade ensures the production of a spiralled shaving which has greater rigidity and a higher volume of wood to length ratio than a straight spill making a more effective fire or candle lighter.

A Scythe and other tools

Various shipwrights’ tools including dividers, bevels, brace and socket chisels

Four shoulder planes. Two all metal by Record on the left and two wooden infill type by Norris on the right.

Top to bottom, beading tools, routers, metal and wooden spokeshaves.

Another spill plane in use by its maker, Colin Sullivan.

Various surveyor’s instruments and tools including near bottom left, a measuring chain.

Surveyor levels

Theodolite

Left to right, a Stanley No 4 Bedrock smoother, a wood infill mitre plane by Towell of London and a coffin shaped smoother by Norris.

The Annunciaton triptych by Rober Crampin

Colin Sullivan operating the Union treddle wood lathe. Union lathes were made by Harrison makers of the famous Graduate lathes familiar to almost anyone who attended woodworking classes at school in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Like the Barnes, the Union is capable of good work.

Wheelwright 1

Wheelwright 2

A selection of mainly specialist wooden planes.Animal harness for use in agriculture, scythe and various horticultural tools